HomeNews Recycled Materials Create Works of Art in Philadelphia's Hidden City Festival

Recycled Materials Create Works of Art in Philadelphia's Hidden City Festival

Materials from Revolution Recovery, a commercial and C&D recycling facility in Philadelphia Recycled materials were used to create the sculptures in "Oil and Water," a project created by The Dufala Brothers featured in the city’s The Hidden City Festival. The exhibit is stationed at Globe Dye Works, an industrial building in Northeast Philadelphia, and speaks to the transition of the building from a prolific industrial factory to a historic showpiece.

The larger-than-life-size works of art comprise everything from electrical wire cables to five-gallon bucket lids to steel ductwork. The majority of the materials were sourced from Revolution Recovery, who donates the items to The Dufala Brothers and other artist groups. Fern Gookin, LEED AP at Revolution Recovery says, "We were happy to provide materials to The Dufala Brothers for their Hidden City Festival installation and are excited to see waste material take on a new life. Creating art from waste is another form of recycling that we hope will inspire people to think about the waste stream differently."

Billy and Steve Dufala are a collaborative artist duo who are inspired by materials they find themselves in the waste stream at Revolution Recovery among other places. The duo hopes their exhibit will ask visitors to think of their waste, even such as out of use buildings, in a new way. Globe Dye Works is the perfect location for their installation due to its grandiose but inactive state. Like much of the materials within the exhibit, Globe Dye Works has been cast off as a dilapidated building, but as The Dufala Brothers hope to point out, has loads of potential.

The Hidden City Festival connects people with once well-known or popular buildings that have since fallen into obscurity. Each site will showcase artwork by a variety of artists in the city. The festival is open to the public until June 30.

Revolution Recovery says its mission is to "keep materials out of landfills." The company is rapidly growing to become a top recycling resource in Philadelphia and has recently opened a second location in New Castle, Del.